Foldable blast proof protective structure

ABSTRACT

A foldable blast proof protective structure comprising a foldable walls envelope with integrated door, a detachable ceiling and a detachable floor, wherein such a modular design of the structure enables a complete assembly within a few simple steps, for which no special tools or heavy cranes are required.

FIELD

The invention is in the field of protective structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a foldable blast proof protective structure.

BACKGROUND

Protecting military forces and civilian populations during armed conflicts used to be a well-defined mission, with a clear definition of the affected areas and the possible threat scenarios. Military fortifications and massively built shelters were providing the proper protection in the conflict affected areas. The expanding use of explosive weapons fired at steep trajectory dynamically has changed both—the affected areas and the reference threat scenarios. While shelters of various types remains the common solution for protecting the civilian population, military fortification provides a partial solution, where mobile military forces which operate in multiple different scenes requires protective structures which provide sufficient blast protection, yet allow a rapid deployment and re-deployment in different active scenes. Furthermore, the efficient transfer and storage of these heavy-duty structures requires the un-deployed protective structures to occupy as minimum volume as possible.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable protective structure, which fulfills the abovementioned requirements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

SUMMARY

A foldable blast proof protective structure, comprising: a foldable walls shell with integrated entrance door, and a detachable ceiling, wherein said structure occupies a small volume when it is in a folded state, thus allowing a rapid deployment and an efficient storage/transportation of multiple units of said structure.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the detachable ceiling comprises at least one lifting point.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the detachable floor comprises at least one lifting point.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wall shell is comprised of a one piece rear wall, a one piece front wall with adapted entrance door and two foldable side walls.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the foldable walls are folding around a vertical axis.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the folding hinges are of the same shape and size.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the foldable walls shell, the detachable ceiling and the detachable floor are constructed of steel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the foldable walls shell, the detachable ceiling and the detachable floor are constructed of T-S 52 steel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the components are composite materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a perspective view of an assembled protective structure, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates a perspective view of the ceiling of the protective structure, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates a perspective view of the floor of the protective structure, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B shows a front view and a section view of the protective structure, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrates an assembly process of the protective structure, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a foldable blast proof protective structure comprising a foldable walls envelope with integrated door, a detachable ceiling and a detachable floor, wherein such a modular design of the structure enables a complete assembly within a few simple steps, for which no special tools or heavy cranes are required.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the foldable blast proof protective structure can be mobilized in a fully assembled state, yet a folded unit of the structure occupies less than a quarter of its assembled state volume, thus allowing the stacking of multiple units of the proposed structure for efficient storage and transportation of folded units to desirable deployment areas. Furthermore, the rapid assembly/disassembly enables multiple repeated use of the same protective structure unit in a very short time at different conflict scenes, thus providing the desired protection in plural scenes on a timely manner and reducing logistic costs.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a perspective view of an assembled protective structure 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which structure 100 is comprised of a detachable ceiling 110 (further shown in FIG. 2A), a detachable floor 120 (shown in FIG. 2B), a front wall 130, a rear wall 140 and foldable side walls 150 and 160 (wall 160 is shown in FIG. 3A), wherein foldable side wall 150 (i.e., in a vertical folding axis) comprises two wall elements 151 and 152 which are externally hinged together with hinges 153 and internally hinged (internal hinges are further described in FIGS. 3A and 3B) to rear wall 140 and to front wall 130, thus creating a wall shell of which perimeter can be reduced by folding walls 150 and 160 between walls 130 and 140. According to an embodiment of the present invention the coupling of ceiling 110 and floor 120 to the foldable wall shell is performed by utilizing coupling elements (e.g., steel bolts and nuts) to attach wall 150 through coupling holes 154 and 155 to the proximal support beams of ceiling 110 and floor 120 (further described in FIGS. 2A and 2B) and doing the same with wall 160.

FIG. 1 further shows lifting points 111 of ceiling 110 and lifting points during the assembly of structure 100 and lifting points 131 a and 131 b of front wall 130 which are utilized for the lifting said wall and ceiling during the manufacturing and during the assembly of structure 100.

The foldable walls 150 and 160 can be folded around a vertical axis to prevent an unintended folding due to the heavy protective structure's weight.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the elements of protective structure 100 are made of steel (e.g., T-S 52). Different embodiments of the present invention utilize further available materials in the market for providing an equivalent protection.

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates a perspective view of ceiling 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which ceiling 110 is comprised of side support beams 211, front and rear support beams 212 and ceiling plate 214 with ceiling lifting points 111 (further shown in FIG. 1), wherein side support beams 211 comprises coupling holes 213 a and 213 b which are used in conjunction with holes 154 (shown in FIG. 1) of wall 150 and with the corresponding holes of wall 160 (not shown) for coupling ceiling 110 to the walls.

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates a perspective view of floor 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which floor 120 is comprised of side support beams 221, front and rear support beams 222 and floor plate 224 with lifting points 224 a (three lifting point not shown), wherein side support beams 221 comprises coupling holes 223 a and 223 b which are used in conjunction with holes 155 (shown in FIG. 1) of wall 150 and with the corresponding holes of wall 160 (not shown) for coupling floor 120 to the walls.

FIGS. 3A and 3B shows a front view and section view D-D of structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which walls 150 and 160 comprises external wall hinges 153 and 163, internal hinges 301 through which wall plate 151 is hinged to rear wall 140 and internal hinges 302 through which wall plate 152 is hinged to front wall 130. Wall 160 is constructed and hinged to rear wall 140 and to front wall 130 in the same manner. The internal and external hinge arrangement enables the folding of walls 150 and 160 into the confined volume when ceiling 110 and floor 120 are not assembled into structure 100.

FIG. 3B further shows support bracket 140 a of rear wall 140 and support brackets 151 a and 152 a of wall 150 (identical support brackets are installed on wall 160), which are attached to walls 140, 150 and 160 in a suitable height for said brackets to lean against floor 120, thus enabling an effortless alignment between coupling holes 155 and holes 223 a and the same alignment of the coupling holes to wall 160.

Additionally shown in FIG. 3B is an internal safety cover strip 303 intended to avoid pinching hazard of the folding line of wall 150. A corresponding and identical cover strip is installed on wall 160.

The above detailed description of embodiments of the protective structure of the present invention, illustrates the utilization of certain types of lifting points and hinges which are shown as being welded to the protective structure, yet multiple types of lifting elements and hinges are available, which can be suitable selected by a skilled person in the art in accordance with different embodiments of the present invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, all external and internal hinges are identical, thus reducing manufacturing costs. Some embodiment of the present invention may utilize more than one type of hinges in accordance with specific application of the protective structure.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a rapid deployment of the protective structure is performed when structure 100 is unloaded from a transporting vehicle to the ground with wall 130 facing upwards. As soon as structure 100 is unloaded a crane may lift wall 130 through lifting points 131 a, thus unfolding walls 150 and 160. Upon the completion of unfolding, floor 120 is coupled to the wall structure through coupling holes 155 of wall 150, corresponding holes of wall 160 and the coupling 223 a and 223 b of floor 120. Brackets 140 a, 151 a, 152 a and the corresponding brackets of wall 160 are critical at this stage for the alignment of coupling holes.

As soon as floor 120 is assembled to the walls, the cranes continues with the lifting of points 131 a, thus tilting structure 100 to an upright position.

The following step is installing ceiling 110, which is done by hoisting ceiling 110 through lifting points 111, placing it on top of the unfolded wall structure and coupling walls 150 and 160 to the corresponding side support beams 211 of ceiling 110 through holes 154 of wall 150, 213 a of the proximal beam 211 and the corresponding holes in wall 160.

FIGS. 4A-4D schematically illustrate the deployment process of structure 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate the unloading (FIG. 4A), unfolding (FIG. 4B), tilting (FIG. 4C) and finally the ceiling installation (FIG. 4D) to accomplish a rapidly assembled protective structure.

The above description demonstrates the simplicity of assembling the protective structure which enables a rapid deployment of multiple protective structures in conflict scenes. Furthermore, the simplicity of the protective structure derives lower manufacturing costs.

Although embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be carried out with many variations, modifications, and adaptations, without exceeding the scope of the claims. 

We claim:
 1. A foldable blast proof protective structure, comprising: a foldable walls shell with integrated entrance door and a detachable ceiling, wherein said structure is adapted to enable a rapid deployment and an efficient storage/transportation of multiple units of said structure.
 2. The structure of claim 1, further comprising a detachable floor.
 3. The structure of claim 1, in which the detachable ceiling comprises at least one lifting point.
 4. The structure of claim 1, in which the detachable floor comprises at least one lifting point.
 5. The structure of claim 1, in which the wall shell is comprised of a rear wall, a front wall and two foldable side walls.
 6. The structure of claim 1, in which the foldable walls are folding around a vertical axis.
 7. The structure of claim 1, in which all the folding hinges are of the same shape and size.
 8. The structure of claim 1, in which the foldable walls shell, the detachable ceiling and the detachable floor are constructed of steel.
 9. The structure of claim 1, in which the foldable walls shell, the detachable ceiling and the detachable floor are constructed of T-S 52 steel.
 10. The structure of claim 1, in which all the components are composite materials. 